Programs & Funding

The State of Ohio receives a yearly allocation of HOME funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fifteen percent of those funds must be "set-aside" to be awarded to CHDOs to develop housing. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) administers this program, and distributes the set-aside for the State of Ohio through its Housing Tax Credit (HTC) program in the form of gap financing for HTC developments.

The Housing Development Assistance programs (HDAP) assist with the costs of developing or preserving affordable housing. Programs are funded by the Federal HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) and the Ohio Housing Trust Fund (OHTF). Awarded as soft funding, HDAP resources enable developers and owners of affordable housing to serve households at or below 50 percent of Area Median Income (AMI).

The Housing Development Loan (HDL) program provides short-term, low interest loans to developers who have an award of housing credits through either the competitive (9 percent) Housing Tax Credit Round or the Bond Gap Financing (BGF) round.

The HTC program is a tax incentive program designed to increase the supply of quality, affordable rental housing by helping developers offset the costs of rental housing developments for individuals with low- to moderate-income. This program has been the largest driver of the production of new affordable housing in the state and nation over the past several years. Since 1987, OHFA has used the HTC Program to facilitate the development of over 100,000 affordable rental housing units in Ohio.

Developers constructing or rehabilitating affordable housing statewide may apply for an allocation of competitive or non-competitive housing tax credits. Due to the demand for competitive credits, OHFA typically funds only 25-30% of all applications submitted.

The Multifamily Bond program provides lower-cost debt financing for the acquisition, construction, and substantial rehabilitation of multifamily housing and single-family housing for low- and moderate-income residents through the issuance of tax exempt mortgage revenue bonds. The program can be effective as a sole financial resource, or combined with non-competitive or 4 percent housing tax credits. Because of the costs of issuing bonds, the Multifamily Bond program is most appropriate for developments that are larger in scale, including 100 or more units.

The Multifamily Lending program is designed to provide permanent financing, otherwise unavailable in the private market, for 20 affordable rental housing projects a year consisting of approximately 1,000 total units over state fiscal years (FY) 2015-17. There are three loan categories under MLP: New Housing Credit MLP Loans, Preservation MLP Loans and Choice MLP loans.

The National Housing Trust Fund was established as a provision of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush. Once capitalized, the trust fund will provide funds to build, preserve, and rehabilitate rental homes that are affordable for extremely and very low income households. Once HUD publishes the formula allocation amounts, the State of Ohio will be tasked with development of an allocation plan that will be linked to the State Consolidated Plan. HUD has encouraged states to begin planning and soliciting input from constituents.

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD), and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) are collaborating to implement the Ohio Section 811 program designed to serve approximately 485 households throughout the state.

The purpose of this program, as authorized under the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2010, is to allow households composed of one or more persons with a disability, who are at least 18 but less than 62 years of age and are extremely low income, to live as independently as possible by subsidizing rental housing opportunities and providing access to supportive services.